In Sickness and On the Run
by WriterInWhite
Summary: Red has taken Liz to Barcelona where she gets a surprising visitor with a bit of a problem. (Keen2)
1. Chapter 1

**One**

They arrived after the sun had set. Barcelona was a mass of sparkling lights and laughing people. Even as they drove outside of the main city and into the rich suburbs, the noise was never far behind.

Liz was already tired of it. She missed the quiet French countryside they were coming from. She wished they could have stayed there longer or gone somewhere besides this massive city of almost five million.

But no, Reddington had brought her to Spain. He had told her he knew someone who owned a house in Barcelona and they owed him a favor. He wouldn't tell her what the favor was for but from the sparkle in his eyes, she could tell it would involve one of his long stories and probably a naked woman.

The house in Barcelona was their eleventh hiding place in four months. Liz had stayed in almost every kind of building under the sun since she had gone on the run. Her most memorable one was the remodeled castle in Germany that was privately owned by one of Reddington's "friends".

All of the places had been comfortable of course; Reddington would never settle for anything less than perfect. But with such an odd assortment of friends living in strange and out of the way places, it was no surprise that very few of her safe havens had turned out to be actual houses.

Although once they arrived, she started thinking of it less of an actual "house".

It was a three story home with traditional Spanish architecture and a huge garden courtyard in front. Stained glass winked down at her from small windows on the third floor and bronze lanterns shone from their spots on either side of the archway that led to the front door.

Liz felt as if she was walking into a romance novel. It was a mansion, not a house.

Reddington lead her through the courtyard and to the door where they were met by a woman in her early sixties. Red broke into a smile and bent over to give her a kiss on the check. The woman started speaking a mile a minute in Spanish, waving her hands around as she no doubt told Red just how happy she was that he was there.

Liz's high school Spanish was quickly overwhelmed and she found herself unable to understand anything they were saying. She was relieved when the woman turned from Red and gave her a giant smile.

"Lizzie, this is Lucia," Red said, his arm around the woman's shoulders. "She's the housekeeper, cook, and gardener. She's also fantastic at poker, I once lost my favorite hat to her."

Red spoke to her again in Spanish and Lucia laughed, pulling away from him and gesturing for them to follow her inside. Liz breathed out a sigh of relief at finally being able to go inside and, hopefully, to bed.

A young girl in her mid-teens was standing right inside the door when they entered and Liz assumed she was Lucia's granddaughter, the two looked remarkably similar.

"Mr. Reddington, it is a pleasure to have you back," the girl said, smiling brightly.

"Avana!" Red beamed. "You've grown quite a bit since I've seen you last. Are you in high school now?"

"Yes, sir."

"My God." He shook his head and chuckled. "I remember high school, it was absolutely hellish."

Liz wasn't sure if she should introduce herself or wait for Red to do it. Before she could decide, he seemed to remember she was in the room and gestured to her. "This is Elizabeth, Lizzie this is Lucia's granddaughter, Avana."

"Nice to meet you," Liz managed to get out.

Avana smiled.

"It's a pleasure to have you here as well. Shall I give you a quick tour of the house? After that I can show you to your room and let you get settled in."

Liz glanced at Red who nodded towards Avana.

"Go on Lizzie, you'll be in good hands."

Liz looked back at the young girl and nodded at her to go ahead. Avana lead her away from the door and Liz followed her deeper into the house. She was shown the living room, the kitchen, and a massive study where Red helped himself to a glass of brandy.

Everything was beautiful. The ceilings were tall and all the furniture was made out of engraved wood. Everywhere she turned, Liz was slapped in the face with elegance and wealth. If she hadn't spent the last four months with Red, it would have probably impressed her. But she couldn't work up anything more than a slight appreciation the things around her.

After the tour, Avana took her upstairs and into a room that was just as beautifully furnished as the rest of the house. The large canopy bed and beautiful carved wardrobe reminded her of the romance novel once again. Liz almost expected a devilishly handsome man to be lounging somewhere nearby.

On the bed, the sheets were turned down invitingly and Liz found herself eyeing it. All she wanted to do was to crawl between them.

"I'm sure you're tired," Avana said and Liz wondered if she had caught her look. "I'll let you get some sleep. Mr. Reddington is in the room across from you and my grandmother and I have rooms behind the kitchen. If you need something, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Liz said, surprisingly grateful. Avana seemed sweet and Liz thought it would be nice to have someone around to chat with besides Red.

Avana gave her one more smile then disappeared out the door, closing it softly behind her. For a moment Liz wondered just how much the young girl knew. What had she been told? She was clearly familiar with Red so she couldn't be completely in the dark about what he and Liz were doing here, but there was no way she knew the whole story.

Someone knocked on the door and Liz turned towards it, wondering if Avana had forgotten something.

"Yeah?"

The door opened and Red stepped inside. He glanced around the room and nodded to himself, like it had met with his approval.

"Oh good, Avana gave you this bedroom. I've always liked it. I think it's the color scheme. It makes me think of the fall. Don't you agree?"

Liz found herself nodding without really caring if she agreed or not. That happened a lot, Red would say something completely meaningless and Liz would nod along because what else was there to do?

"How much do they know?" Liz asked.

Red glanced at her and frowned. "Hm?"

"Lucia and Avana," she clarified. "How much do they know? About us?"

"Enough." Red shrugged. "They have no illusions to what I do, I visit too often for that. They don't know why we're here but they know not to talk. We're safe for the time being, I promise."

He said that often, promising her they were safe. That she was safe. No matter how many times he repeated it, she still didn't believe it. She never felt safe anymore, not even when they were in the middle of nowhere, miles away from other people.

The fear was like a disease that ate at her. No matter where she went or what she did, it wouldn't leave her alone. It was the only constant left in her life.

"I know," she replied, her words empty. "I'm really tired, I think I'm going to head to bed."

Red eyed her and she could feel the worry in them. He had been looking at her like that a lot lately, but he never said a word besides those meaningless promises and she sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up.

"Alright." He nodded and walked out the door, pausing to look back. "Goodnight, Lizzie."

"Goodnight."

He closed the door and she was left alone.

Sighing, Liz threw her bag down on the bed and rummaged through it for a clean t-shirt. Once she had one in hand she went into the bathroom and tried to forget herself under a spray of hot water. She stayed in the shower until she knew that if she didn't go to bed soon, she'd fall over.

Liz snuggled down under the soft sheets and surrendered herself to the darkness of sleep. It wasn't peaceful like it used to be and she normally woke up several times in a cold sweat. But for now, it was the only relief she had.

* * *

 **This is my first time writing fanfiction in several years and my first time writing for Keen2, so I'm sorry if it's crap. This is based off of a dream I had and my friend convinced me to write it, so if you hate it, you can blame her, haha.**

 **This short section is the beginning of a multi-chapter that will hopefully have around 10 chapters. My update schedule is going to be around a chapter a week. I have summer school and work so it might be less often than that. I apologize a head of time if it is.**

 **I'm excited to have this up and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think! Until next time**


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

Liz woke up almost as tired as she had been when she'd gone to bed.

Recently that's all she was: tired. Weary of being on the run.

She wanted to be able to go back to her life, her home. She want to be in D.C. again, going to work and seeing Ressler, Aram, and Cooper. She would rather be hunting down some deadly Blacklister then living through this endless parade of different hiding places.

She missed feeling safe. She missed not having to constantly look over her shoulder to make sure someone from the Cabal wasn't about to put a bullet in her back. She wished she could go back to her life before Red had shown up and dragged her into all this mess. To her house, her dog, and her husband.

Liz frowned, unhappy with the direction her mind had taken her. Right back to Tom.

It was happening more and more lately. She would find herself lingering over him during random parts of her day. In the middle of one of Red's stories in Switzerland, while she was eating lunch in a café in London, right before she fell asleep in a penthouse in Paris. He was always there, lurking in the back of her mind, reminding her of the opportunity she had given up.

Would things be different if she had gone with him instead? Would she feel safer if she had him with her?

Liz forced herself to snap back to reality, stopping that thought in its tracks. She didn't have time to wonder what could have been. She had made a choice and she knew it was the right one. Her name needed to be cleared before she could ever go back to that life that she so sorely missed.

This was truly the only way she could feel safe again.

Her head knew and accepted that. Her heart, which silently wished she had gone with the man on the boat instead, was having more trouble catching on.

Growling to herself she threw back the no doubt expansive embroidered bedspread and stumbled over to her bag. She could smell coffee and bacon and her stomach gave a loud grumble of complaint. If there was one good thing about being on the run with Red, it was that the food was always delicious.

She needed a good distraction.

Once she had pulled on a shirt and pants, she left the room and started to make her way to downstairs to where the smell was coming from. Thinking back on the tour Avana had given her the night before, it didn't take Liz long to find the sunlit kitchen.

Avana was standing in front of the stove, frying bacon. She looked up and gave Liz a bright smile, gesturing for her to take a seat at the bar opposite the stove. Liz did and was rewarded with Avana setting a steaming cup of coffee in front of her, a little milk pitcher and a glass of sugar next to her elbow.

"Good morning." Avana returned to the stove. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, thanks." Liz took a gulp of coffee, ignoring the way it burnt her tongue. "Where's Red?"

"Mr. Reddington already ate about an hour ago."

Liz glanced at the clock. 10:46. She was sleeping later and later these days.

"He and my grandmother went to the market," Avana continued. "He's very picky about what he eats, as I'm sure you know. He always wants to be with her when she buys the ingredients."

Liz grunted, not surprised, and Avana grinned. She flipped the slices of bacon and turned her head to look at Liz.

"How would you like your bacon?" She asked. "Mr. Reddington wasn't sure."

"Extra crispy," Liz answered automatically.

She couldn't help the way her mind jumped to the last time she had bacon and the man who had known exactly how she liked it without having to ask. She took another sip of coffee, wishing it was tea and that she was in a small diner in D. C. instead of a mansion in Spain.

Avana set a plate of bacon, two fried eggs, and a slice of toast in front of Liz and she pushed the daydream away. She was more tired than she thought if it was this easy for her to lose focus.

"Mr. Reddington said you would prefer an 'American' breakfast," Avana was saying. "Is this okay?"

Liz nodded, grateful she didn't have to try anything new. Most of the time she was open to new ethnic food, but she was very picky when it came to her breakfasts. She thought she had a right to be after years of eating pancakes, which she hated with a passion.

"It looks great, thank you."

Avana beamed. "You're welcome. I have some laundry to finish up but if you want more of anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

She disappeared down the hallway behind the kitchen where Liz assumed the laundry room was.

Liz picked up her fork and dug into the eggs, focusing on eating and keeping her mind off of things she would rather not dwell on. Instead she listened to the birds outside the window breathed in the scent of the flowers from the courtyard.

It wasn't long before she started to relax.

She had just finished eating her bacon when she heard Avana scream. Without even thinking about it, her hand grabbed the gun that was always tucked into the side of her pants. She jumped off the bar stool and headed through the hallway that led to the laundry room, gun out in front of her.

This was only their first day in Barcelona, Liz had been hoping she would have some time before they had to move again. She should have known better than that.

The second she had started to relax, the Cabal had caught up and she was in danger once again. This time an innocent girl had been put in danger as well. How many more lives was she going to tear apart? How many more people were going to end up hurt because of her?

It made her sick and she wished she hadn't just eaten.

The laundry room door was halfway open and she could see Avana inside, in front of the washing machine, alive for now. Liz allowed herself a moment of relief before bursting in and pointing her gun at the intruder.

The man spun towards her and when he saw the gun he raised his hands in surrender. Familiar blue eyes stared into Liz's and she froze in surprise.

"Tom?"

Her ex-husband gave her a lopsided smile and lowered his hands.

"Hey, Liz. Mind lowering the gun? I would really prefer to say bullet-free this time around."

Liz lowered her gun automatically, her mind trying to make sense of the sudden appearance of the man who had been plaguing her mind so much recently.

"You know him?" Avana asked, glancing between the two of them.

Liz nodded. "Yeah, he's my…"

She paused, unsure what word to put in that blank. Tom, or Jacob as he wanted her to call him, had been so many things to her. Husband, friend, lover, enemy, savior. Their relationship was a giant question mark and she wasn't sure how to describe it anymore.

Tom looked away from Liz and reluctantly focused on Avana.

"I'm her ex-husband. You can call me Jacob."

Liz tucked her gun back into her pants and studied him. How on earth had he found them?

"How…?" She started to ask.

"I'll tell you later," he brushed off her question. "I have some intel on the Cabal."

"Oh." Liz blinked. "Alright."

Avana glanced at Liz, still wary.

"It's okay Avana," Liz assured the girl, giving her arm a gentle squeeze. "He's not going to hurt us, I promise."

Avana relaxed slightly and bent to pick up the laundry she had dropped. Liz looked back at Tom and gestured for him to follow her.

"Come on, let's get out of Avana's hair."

She led him back into the kitchen, her mind still buzzing with his sudden appearance. Tom was very good at what he did, there was no doubt about that, but it amazed her that he had been able to find them. Red had been very careful.

"Would you like a cup of coffee or anything?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He smiled a bit. "But thanks for the offer."

Liz leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms. She suddenly felt awkward with him there. Was she supposed to hug him? Give him a kiss? They had certainly parted on good terms, but it had been months since that night and she had left him without a proper goodbye.

"So you have some information on the Cabal?"

He nodded and fished a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"There are a few contacts I've been talking to lately to keep tags on Bud. Several of them are aware of the Cabal and I asked them to fill me in on all they knew about them." He slid the paper towards Liz. "Here are the names of a few of Reddington's 'friends' who are now on the Cabal's payroll. I don't want you trusting the wrong people."

Liz picked up the list and studied the seven names on it. She was surprised to recognize several as people Red had mentioned during their travels. The fear clamped down when she realized just how close they had been to falling into the hands of someone who would have turned them over to their enemies.

She looked up at Tom and found him watching her. Her heart warmed. Once again he was saving her, putting his own life on the line to do so.

"Thank you," she whispered, knowing her words could never express just how grateful she was.

"You're welcome." His eyes softened. "You know I would do anything to make sure you were safe, Liz."

Her heart melted and she was filled with the desire to have him hold her. She had missed him so much.

Liz stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist, giving him a tight hug. He returned it and for a moment Liz relaxed in his embrace.

The spell was broken when she realized how warm he felt. Surprised, she pulled away and looked up into his disappointed face. His nose and eyes were redder than usual. She put a hand on his forehead and was concerned with how warm it was.

"Are you okay?"

Tom frowned and stepped back, dropping his arms. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Liz raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"You promise never to lie to me," she reminded him.

Tom huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

"It's a little cold, Liz. Not something to worry about."

"You've never had a 'little' cold in your life," she snorted. "They've almost always turned into something much worse. Maybe you should come lie down for a bit."

Tom shook his head, chuckling softly. "Lizzie, I'm fine, trust me. The last thing I should be doing is staying here. The longer I'm here, the longer I put you in danger."

Liz rolled her eyes.

"Please, the people after you don't give a damn about me. I think you can spare a few hours to take a nap," she insisted. "What if this gets worse when you're on your boat? You and I both know you are the biggest baby when you're sick. You can't function, let alone run away from people trying to kill you."

Liz crossed her arms and dared him to argue with her. He wasn't going to win, not on this.

If he had come all this way to give her information that would save her life, the least she could do was allow him to rest. If she sent him back now and this cold developed into something worse, like his colds usually did, he would be in no condition to fight.

She wasn't about to let that happen.

"Liz…"

"Tom."

He grinned and glanced down. "You're not going to give up are you?"

"Certainly not."

He glanced up at her through his eyelashes.

"Call me Jacob and I'll stay."

She hid a smile. "Please, Jacob?"

"Fine." He raised his hands in surrender. "I just hope Reddington doesn't find out, I have a feeling he might not be too happy with you."

"Let me take care of that," Liz said dryly. "Now come on, I'll take you upstairs."

He followed her up to the bedroom she had slept in the night before and he glanced around appreciatively.

"I have to admit, Reddington sure picks some nice places to stay."

Liz shrugged. "They're okay."

He glanced at her, surprised.

"Not enough to impress you?"

Liz looked around at the room at all the beauty that no longer held any appeal for her.

"It gets a bit old after a while." She admitted. "Wealth like this is only impressive the first few times you see it. After that it all seems…wasteful."

Tom raised his eyebrows.

"Well, you're always welcome to stay with me if you'd rather. My boat certainly isn't filled with wealth. Not a bit wasteful, I swear."

Liz smiled and tried to push down the wave of longing that washed over her at his words. If only she could. His boat would be such a relief after all of her traveling, but it wouldn't accomplish what she needed to. As much as she would prefer his boat over the mansion, she was better where she was at.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll survive. You however, might not if you don't get some rest," she teased, trying not to let him see how his words had affected her.

Tom sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Care to join me?"

Liz laughed and shook her head. "I'm good, thanks. I'd rather not come down with whatever you've got."

"Too bad."

Liz stepped forward and pressed a quick kiss to his check.

"Sleep well. I'll come check on you in a bit."

Tom rolled his eyes. "I still think you're overreacting, babe. I'm not that sick."

The pet name made her smile.

"Just sleep, Tom." She touched his cheek and then left him alone.

Downstairs, Avana was washing dishes. She looked up at Liz and then back down at the dishes.

"Is he gone?"

Liz shook her head and grabbed a towel that was on the counter. She took a clean glass from Avana and started to dry it.

"No, he's staying for a bit."

"Is everything okay?"

"I think so," Liz responded. "He just has a bit of a cold and I wanted him to get some rest. His colds tend to turn into raging fevers and I don't want to send him away with one of those. It wouldn't help him any."

Avana handed Liz a plate and started washing the frying pan.

"You are awfully kind to your ex-husband."

Liz smiled. "Tom's a good guy."

Avana frowned. "Tom? I thought he said his name is Jacob."

"It is," Liz said quickly. "I'm just more used to calling him Tom."

"Why is that?"

Liz paused and stared at the glass she was drying. Such a complicated story and one that she had no desire to share with the young girl.

"It's a long story."

The front door opened and Liz heard Reddington's voice. She bit down the slight wave of panic and the thought of both him and Tom being in the house at the same time. There was no telling what Red would do if he stumbled onto Tom.

"Avana, could you do me a favor?"

The young girl nodded. "Of course."

"Could you not mention Tom to Reddington? They…well, they don't get along very well."

That was the understatement of the year, but Liz just needed Avana to agree and that didn't require telling her all the gory details.

Avana smiled. "I won't tell Mr. Reddington if you don't want me to."

"Thank you." Liz breathed out a sigh of relief and set the plate she was drying down.

The last thing they needed was Red and Tom battling their hatred out in the living room. If Tom was going to stay, then it was Liz's job to make sure the two men didn't meet. Since Tom would hopefully just be there for a few hours, she wasn't too worried about it.

But it was always better to be safe than sorry.

* * *

 **And there is chapter two.**

 **I apologize for the long wait, things got a bit crazy. I had meant to upload this last week, and I thought I did, but two days ago my friend kindly informed me that I hadn't. This chapter had literally been sitting around finished for a week. I've decided I'm rather a horrible person for letting that happen when I know just how excited all of you have been for Jacob to appear in the story.**

 **Speaking of which, here he is! I was very nervous about writing Jacob, I'm not as good as him as some writers I know. But I got a few pointers from the amazing RP account over on tumblr and I'm confident my portrayal doesn't completely suck.**

 **Review and let me know what you guys thought! I love my reviews, haha. Do you think Jacob and Red and going to run into each other? Do you think Jacob will be saying longer than a few hours? Tell me everything!**


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